No Way Out [Book 3]

Chapter 31 - Puffy Clouds

***Bea's POV

Time has both stood still and flown by since we left Doctor Schmidt's office and now that my consultation and surgery are scheduled, it has finally sunk into my brain that I have cancer.

Harry and I have barely spoken two words to each other in the half-hour drive and as he pulls the van to a slow stop in front of Gemma's house, he lets out a heavy yawn. I feel the engine shut off and I look out my window at the house, wondering what my girls are doing right now.

Well, it's after lunchtime, so they're probably coloring or watching a cartoon together or oh my God, my babies.

"How are we going to tell our girls, Harry? How are we gonna tell your parents a-and my parents, oh God, my mom's gonna lose it, Harry. She's just going to lose it. You know what? I want to tell everyone all at once so I don't have to keep reliving it over and over and over again. But we'll tell Ferris separately, and first. She deserves to know first, and Janelle, our baby girl, won't even understand, oh my God, Harry, swear on your life that you'll stay at home with the girls during my surgery and chemo treatments because I don't want them there, I don't want them to see me like that- oh my God, I'm-"

"Beatrice, you need to calm down," he sternly warns, cupping my cheeks to make me look at him and I grab onto the sleeves of his sweatshirt. "Breathe in," he instructs and I close my eyes, inhaling deeply through my nose. "Good girl. Now breathe out."

I blow out the breath through my mouth and repeat the slow breaths one more time, opening my eyes to his.

"Let's just take one thing at a time so it's not overwhelming, okay?" he says, caressing my cheeks with his thumbs and I nod. "Alright, so all we have to worry about at this very moment is getting our girls so we can go home. That's simple, right?"

"Yeah," I nod, blinking away my tears and I let out a calming breath. "Thank you, Harry."

His eyes travel down my face and he smiles softly, reaching over to the console for something and I watch with heart eyes as my husband lovingly wipes my nose with a tissue.

"There we go; just as beautiful as ever."

"I love you so so much, Harry, so so much and I'm sorry for how I treated you earlier. I didn't mean what I said. Please forgive me, although I'll understand if you don't because what I said was uncalled for, but just know that I'm really really sorry."

In the quietness of our van, Harry exhales a deep breath, keeping eye contact with me and he smiles softly.

"Forgiven, forgotten and I love you, too," he says with a sweet peck to my lips. "Now let's get our girls so we can go home, yeah?"

And with my nod, he takes the keys out of the ignition and he gets out of the van.

Exhaling a refreshing breath, I wipe underneath my eyes and hope no one will be able to tell that I've been crying. Since we didn't tell Gemma the real reason we needed her to babysit, my blotchy face will only add to the suspicion.

No, don't worry about that, Bea. We're just getting our girls so we can go home, just like Harry said. One thing at a time.

I'm startled by the door opening and Harry holds out his hand for mine to help me out of the van. After I tuck the seatbelt inside, I shut the door and we walk up to the house hand in hand.

"Are you ready to put on a smile for our girls, Love?" he asks as he knocks on the front door and we immediately hear cheering.

We smile at each other because our girls don't exactly know it's us and the fact that they're hopeful warms my heart.